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PROOFS OF EVOLUTION 










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PROOFS OF EVOLUTION 


One of a Series of Popular Lectures before 
the Brooklyn Ethical Association 



NELSON C. PARSHALL 


“One of the most systematic, concise and comprehensive presentations in 
popular form of the foundation and theory of evolution .”—Public Opinion. 


FIFTH THOUSAND 



CHICAGO 

CHARLES H. KERR AND COMPANY 





# 






Copyright by 
JAMES H. WEST, 
1889. 




CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


I. 

The Growth of Evolutionary Thought, . 

. 9 

II. 

Practical Benefits of the Evolution Theory, 

. 12 

III. 

The Four Great Factors of Evolution, 

. 16 

IV. 

Proofs from Geology, .... 

. 19 

V. 

Proofs from Morphology, 

. 21 

VI. 

Proofs from Embryology, 

. 31 

VII. 

Proofs from Metamorphosis, . 

. 34 

VIII. 

Proofs from Rudimentary Organs, . 

. 36 

IX. 

Proofs from Geographical Distribution, . 

. 40 

X. 

Proofs from Discovered Links, 

. 44 

XI. 

Proofs from Artificial Breeding, 

. 52 

XII. 

Proofs from Reversion, . 

. 55 

XIII. 

Proofs from Mimicry,. 

. 58 

XIV. 

Spontaneous Generation,. 

, 60 

XV. 

A Summary of Evidence, . 

. 63 

XVI. 

Language and the Moral Sense, 

, 68 

XVII. 

Conclusion,. 

69 


( 5 ) 






I 


The eye reads omens where it goes , 

And speaks all languages the rose ; 

And , striving to he man , the worm 
Mounts through all the spires of form. 

—Nature , 4., 7. 

The fossil strata show us that Nature began with rudimental forms, and rose 
to the more complex as fast as the earth was fit for their dwelling-place; and 
that the lower perish as the higher appear. Very few of our race can be said to 
be yet finished men. We still carry sticking to us some remains of the preced¬ 
ing inferior quadruped organization. . . The age of the quadruped is to go out, 
—the age of the brain and of the heart is to come in. And if one shall read the 
future of the race hinted in the organic effort of Nature to mount and melior¬ 
ate, and the corresponding impulse to the Better in the human being, we shall 
dare affirm that there is nothing he will not overcome and convert, until at last 
culture shall absorb the chaos and gehenna. He will convert the Furies into 
Muses and the hells into benefit.— Culture. 


—Ralph Waldo Emerson. 


COLLATERAL READINGS SUGGESTED 

IN CONNECTION WITH ESSAY 

Darwin’s Origin of Species ; Haeckel’s History of Creation , and 
Evolution of Man; Spencer’s Biology; Fiske’s Cosmic Philosophy 
and Excursions of an Evolutionist; Huxley’s Letters on Evolution 
and Critiques and Addresses; Romanes’ Scientific Evidences of 
Organic Evolution; Wallace and Dyer’s The Distribution of Life ; 
Sclimidt’s Doctrine of Descent and Darwinism ; Cazelle’s Outline of 
the Evolution Philosophy; Professor Morse’s Presidential Address 
before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
188 T. 


( 8 ) 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION 


I. 

THE GROWTH OF EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT. 

E MERSON says: “ Beware when the great God 
lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all 
things are at risk.” This laconic saying has been 
more than verified within the last thirty years. 
The thinkers have been holding high carnival; — 
and all about a little protoplasmic cell that none 
of them could see with the naked eye. 

Two great questions have always been before 
the world: one, as to the beginning of all things; 
the other, as to the end of all things. Concerning 
these two problems, many sacred books have been 
written, from which a dozen great religious sys¬ 
tems have sprung, all setting forth, more or less 
minutely, theories of the genesis of mind and 
matter. The explanations thus given, though 
crude and barbarous in many of their features, 




10 


PBOOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


have been generally accepted, and the races of 
men have shaped their earthly careers in accord¬ 
ance therewith. Now and then a splendid soul 
arose and denied the truth of these assumed rev¬ 
elations ; but he rarely lived to repeat the denial. 

For ages men were content merely to know how 
to utilize the simplest forces of Nature, to learn 
how to do the commonest things, and to join in 
communities for pleasure and protection. They 
thought all things were made out of hand by a 
Supreme Architect who directed momentarily and 
minutely all human affairs. Fear and wonder 
made all their gods, and love and hope supplied 
them with the beautiful belief in immortality. 

Although the martyrs of truth fell one by one, 
each left a germinal thought behind. Only with¬ 
in the present generation has it become safe and 
reputable to think. Hardly is this even now the 
exact truth; for “The Descent of Man” was at 
first hailed with good-natured laughter and gentle 
derision; it was a good drawing-room joke at the 
expense of the monkey-tribe. Even at the present 
moment, the vast majority of the people smile 
broadly whenever the subject of man’s evolution¬ 
ary origin is seriously mentioned. Comparatively 



PBOOFS OF EVOLUTION . 


11 


few as yet accept all that is implied in the doctrine 
of Evolution. Nevertheless, it is bound up in one 
way or other with nearly every branch of human 
knowledge. The word is in every mouth. The 
fact connects itself with every known phenomenon. 
The greatest foe to the development theory has 
naturally been the church; because if Evolution 
is true, theology must be reconstructed in accord¬ 
ance with the principle of the supremacy of law 
and the impossibility of its violation by the 
intrusion of miracle. Not until there are more 
Scientific and Ethical Associations, and not until 
schools and colleges teach the doctrine of Evolu¬ 
tion, will it become imbedded in the thought and 
life of the masses. 



12 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


II. 

THE PRACTICAL BENEFITS OF THE EVOLUTION 
THEORY. 

It may be, and often has been, asked, “ Of what 
use is all this knowledge ? What is the practical 
benefit of believing that man began life as a 
Moneron, and by strict attention to business has 
worked himself up to his present high estate — 
‘the paragon of animals’ ?” In the first place, all 
this is worth knowing for truth’s own sake, since 
every truth contains the germ of good, and wher¬ 
ever it leads, all may safely follow. But the 
practical benefit which the knowledge of Evolution 
conveys, influences man in all relations of life, as 
an individual and as a member of society. First 
of all, it teaches him the great lesson of reliance 
upon law—that all things are the result of growth 
and development; that the present is the child of 
the past, the simple the germ of the complex. It 
teaches the impossibility of the fortuitous and the 
miraculous,—that if we expect effects, we must 
set in motion adequate causes; that to live wisely 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


13 


and well, we must adjust ourselves to the natural 
and rational. 

While it does not take away one rational hope, 
Evolution sweeps into oblivion all the childish 
fables of the past; it points to a new heaven and 
a new earth; it bids us awake from our pretty 
dream of the supernatural, and work in, with and 
through Nature, if we would make the wilderness 
of woe and wrong to blossom as the rose. It has 
unified all science and given learning a new force 
and meaning. It has added vastly to the sum 
of knowledge, and to the aggregate of human 
happiness. 

In all its branches and bearings, it directly 
tends to enlarge and intensify human love and 
sympathy, and so stimulates the forces that lead 
to industry and thrift, and on to the highest plane 
of moral well-being. 

It teaches the principles of adjustment and 
harmony; it bids us always to take thought for 
the morrow, and proclaims that love and labor 
united constitute the “ divinity that shapes our 
ends.” It will make the world more generous, 
kind, and charitable; more patient, brave and 
true; more humble, gentle, and unselfish; more 



14 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


noble, virtuous and patriotic. It will do all this 
because it asserts the great law of mutual duty. 
Evolution affirms the survival of the fittest. It 
prophesies even better things to come, than those 
which we now know. It points toward an ideal 
of perfection. Its flower and fruitage in life is 
moral grandeur. 

Admitting its scope and possibilities, as thus 
portrayed, we are now at the threshold of the 
vital question, “Is Evolution true ?” For nothing 
false can be a permanent good. This question 
must be answered briefly and imperfectly; for an 
hour gives time barely to mention the various 
phases of the great theme. We are compelled to 
take a hasty view of the broad field, touching 
only the mountain-peaks in the line of proof 
which establishes the theory of Evolution. 

What is Evolution ? A late writer has tersely 
defined it as follows: “ Evolution is continuous, 
progressive change, according to certain laws, and 
by means of resident forces.” Evolution is simply 
growth and change, governed by fixed laws. Its 
corner-stone is continuity. 

The essayists who have preceded me have ex- 



PHOOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


15 


plained to you Solar and Planetary Evolution, as 
also the Evolution of the Earth as a whole, of 
Vegetal and Animal Life, of Mind, of Man, of 
Society, Theology and Morals.* It is in the field 
of Biology, however, that the proofs of Evolution 
are most abundant and conclusive. To this line 
of proof I shall mainly confine my attention. 
But before proceeding to details, it may be well to 
point out the four great factors of Evolution, on 
which the entire theory rests. 


* See “Evolution: Popular Lectures and Discussions before 
the Brooklyn Ethical Association.” One vol., 408 pages, illus¬ 
trated, complete index, cloth, $2.00. Boston : James H. West, 
Publisher. 





16 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


III. 

THE FOUR GREAT FACTORS OF EVOLUTION. 

These are (1) The influence of Environment; 
(2) The increased use or disuse of organs; (3) 
Natural Selection, or Survival of the Fittest; and 
(4) Sexual Selection. The two former are accred¬ 
ited to Lamarck and others, but the two latter are 
wholly Darwinian; and running through all is the 
potent influence of heredity. 

A change in environment effects a corresponding 
change in functional activities, which leads to 
structural modification. Common observation and 
experience show us the effect of the use or disuse 
of an organ or part. This is likewise observable 
in determining the greater or less acuteness and 
activity of all the senses. An organ lying dormant 
during many generations will gradually atrophy, 
and appear as a rudiment, finally vanishing alto¬ 
gether. Fishes and animals dwelling in under¬ 
ground caves into which no light enters, are 
sightless, as they have no use for eyes. They have 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION . 


17 


lost them by disuse. The wonderful development 
of the gymnast and athlete is achieved by intensi¬ 
fied use of the muscular system. If use or disuse 
is continued from generation to generation, hered¬ 
ity will transmit the result. 

Natural Selection, or Survival of the Fittest, 
grows out of the struggle for self-preservation. 
It is based on the law of hunger. It develops 
strength, cunning, or agility. It is an enemy to 
the weak and poorly conditioned. We see this 
principle exemplified every day in the struggle 
for supremacy among individuals, communities, 
nations, and races. The strongest and best- 
favored survive; the weakest perish. 

Sexual Selection is not concerned with hunger, 
but with beauty and the desire for offspring. As 
well stated by Prof. LeConte, “In Natural Selection 
there is a struggle of all for food, or means of 
living. In Sexual Selection there is a struggle 
among the males for the possession of the females 
and the means of procreation. The one is related 
to the nutritive appetite, the other, to the sexual 
appetite.” 

In animal life, Natural Selection most obtains 
among mammals; sexual selection is more pre- 



18 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


dominant among birds, those having the most 
beautiful plumage, or sweetest songs, winning the 
choicest mates. The former fight for existence; 
the latter, like the warriors bold of the Middle 
Ages, battle for love. This warfare is in the 
world to-day wherever there are life and move¬ 
ment. These principles of evolution are still 
everywhere operating. Heredity preserves these 
jewels of descent, without which we would go 
back to “ chaos and old night.” 



PHOOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


19 


IV. 

PROOFS FROM GEOLOGY. 

Among the strongest proofs of Universal devel¬ 
opment, are those drawn from geological study. 
The earth has entombed all organic forms that 
have ever lived, and awaits the inevitable hour to 
receive all that live and breathe to-day. The 
process which everywhere goes on is one of evolu¬ 
tion and revolution. Every disappearance is 
followed by a new form, readjusted upon a higher 
plane. The Earth is the Great Stone Book, giving 
us, as we turn the strata-leaves, illuminated 
pictures in bas-relief of the life-forms of past 
ages. What a Revelation ! written by the finger 
of Time on the rock of Ages, and by the ink of 
Death. Nothing can falsify the record. It is 
immutable, and antedates by millions of years the 
printed books of man, which assume, with much 
pomp and circumstance, to tell us all about the 
beginnings of things. 

Geology finds in the lower strata of rocks, just 
what we might expect to see if evolution is true: 
First, only the lowest forms of animal life, and 



20 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION, 


sea-weeds. Then, through later and later deposits, 
successively appear remains of fishes, reptiles, 
mammals, and finally man, together with all the 
varying forms of plant-life appropriate to the 
successive periods. Nor is this all. In many 
cases, intermediate forms between species have 
been found,— the “Missing Links” so often in¬ 
quired for by the opponents of Evolution. Why 
all the generalized types are not found, is manifest¬ 
ly owing to the imperfection of the geological 
record, induced by the devastations of time; such 
as the action of heat and cold, and the convulsions 
of nature. Change is manifested everywhere, 
stability nowhere, except in the laws of universal 
causation. Form and substance are but puppets 
in the hands of one great master, Time. 

Astronomy and Geology! twin liberators of 
the human mind,— one taught Infinite Space, the 
other Infinite Time. Before their birth was 
mental chaos. The popular theory of the heavens 
and earth was essentially mythological, like those 
of Greece and Rome, but shorn of all their 
wondrous beauty and refinement. Astronomy 
caught from dancing globes their laws of sustenta- 
tion. Geology wrung from stubborn earth the 
jewels of her treasure-house. 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


21 


V. 

PROOFS FROM MORPHOLOGY. 

Convincing proofs of the truth of evolution 
are found in the homologies of animal structure. 
It may be well to distinguish this word, Homology, 
from Analogy, which refers to organs similar in 
form or function, but differing in origin, while 
. Homology relates to those parts or organs which, 
however dissimilar in office, were derived from 
one and the same part, modified and readjusted 
by use. For example, the wing of a bird and the 
wing of a butterfly are analogous, since they are 
both used for flying ; but they are not homologous, 
for they had not a common origin. But the wing 
of a bird, the fore-paw of a reptile or mammal, 
and the arm of a man, are homologous, since they 
have the same general structure, modified for 
different uses. Analogous parts look alike, but 
are not alike; while homologous parts may have 
little or no resemblance, but are in fact the same 
parts in disguise. 

Morphology, or the science which describes the 



22 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


ideal forms or parts of organs,—the so-called 
structural “types’’ in living organisms,—runs 
throughout the entire animal and vegetable king¬ 
doms. The structural evolution of one mammal 
is a type of the structural development of all. 
We will therefore select the horse, as at once the 
most beautiful and useful, needing only the gift 
of language to make him human. The beautiful 
form, color, size and structure of this animal were 
not fashioned at once, but have come to their 
present perfection through small and gradual 
changes extending back through vast periods of 
time. It has taken Nature ages and ages to make 
a horse, and she isn’t done with him yet or he 
wouldn’t balk and shy. The stock-breeders have 
joined hands with Nature and are rapidly improv¬ 
ing his beauty, speed, and strength, while heredity 
is silently keeping the score. 

From Geological discoveries we know that the 
horse came from a five-toed ancestor. In Europe, 
India and America he has been traced as far back 
as the early Eocene period, where he appeared no 
larger than a common fox. He then had three 
toes behind and four in front, with the rudiment 
of a fifth. Later on, we find him increased to the 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


23 


size of a sheep, but minus the rudimentary toe. 
The next advance was to a three-toed animal all 
around, about the size of a yearling colt, with the 
rudiment of a fourth toe on each foot. This stage 
of his development was followed by a shortening 
up of the side toes, while the middle toe grew 
broader and stronger. Finally, in the Quarternary 
period, we have the modern horse as we see 
him to-day,—the side-splints yet remaining, as 
rudiments, to tell of his long line of descent. 

What is true of the toes of the horse applies as 
well to the development of other parts of his 
structure. The principle applies not only to him, 
but to all living things. Descent with modification 
is a universal law. By the necessity of continually 
varying his modes of life, the horse has advanced 
from a useless little plantigrade quadruped to the 
position of the greatest help-mate of man, bearing 
patiently his many burdens and contributing in no 
small degree to his pleasure. But Evolution, 
which fashioned the horse and made him man’s 
burden-bearer, is also raising up friendly inventors 
to emancipate him from some of his heavy toil. - 

All the organs, as well as all the parts of the 
skeletons of all animals, have undergone slow and 




24 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


gradual changes, from the simplest beginnings up 
to their present complex state. New and ever- 
changing environments have brought correspond¬ 
ing modification of the organs or parts. Those 
no longer needful, shrunk to rudiments, finally 
disappeared altogether. Those needful and used 
were strengthened along their several lines of 
growth, until we have to-day all the wonders of 
form and function. 

Nature never begins her work de novo , for her 
adaptive genius is so great that she can transform 
the old into the new. When she wanted to make 
a landsman of a fish, she did not give him a new 
pair of legs at once, but left him to utilize his fins 
for that purpose as best he could. Of course, he 
made bad work of it at first; but as he was left 
in the hard grip of necessity it was Hobson’s 
choice. As he was often left on shallow, muddy 
shores by receding tides, he began to work his 
fins more vigorously, until finally, after many 
generations, in spite of a round of fatal failures, 
some of his kind succeeded in adapting their fins 
to this new use. The mud-fish of India, the 
Brazilian doras, and certain catfish of tropical 
America, take journeys of considerable length 



PR O OFS OF E VOL TJTION. 


25 


across the dry land in this way. Thus the swim- 
bladders of certain of the early fishes gradually 
developed into lungs, the gill-arches into ears; 
the head enlarged; the circulation increased; a 
warmer current filled the veins; the tail-fin, not 
having much to do, dwindled to an ornamental 
appendage,— and then and there a quadruped was 
born. 

Again, when Nature wanted a bird, she didn't 
make one out of raw material, as we are told, 
full-winged to soar away, but “worked over” the 
old fabric, just as thrifty housewives do, and do so 
wondrously well. Therefore, if wings are needed, 
the fore-limbs must go — they must be transformed 
into wings. Ages pass on; the earth is filled 
with birds, beasts, and creeping things, but the 
quadruped is king. He has grown to enormous 
size and strength, and appears in almost endless 
varieties. The struggle for existence has preserved 
the strongest, the most cunning, and those most 
highly skilled in the art of food-getting. The 
fierce warfare through which all living creatures 
have passed, would naturally sharpen all the 
-senses, and stimulate, little by little, the power to 
observe and discriminate as to friend and foe, and 



26 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


as to foods, and favoring localities. This would 
induce some sort of reflection, and implant in the 
mind at least a nebulous train of reason and 
ordered thought. This would give the brain more 
and better work to do, and the doing would 
increase its size, quality, and convolutions. 

Why should advance stop at this point ? Why 
should not the same progressive change and 
upward tendency still go on ? Is the change from 
the mute little fish to a roaring Saurian less 
marvelous than the advance from highest mammal 
then existing to the earliest savage man, without 
speech, or language, and feeding on whatever prey 
the forest offered, including his own kind ? Doubt¬ 
less man lived thousands of years before he 
acquired what we would now call language. 
Nevertheless, his earliest cries and noises were the 
beginnings of connected speech; though no more 
intelligible than the chattering of apes. 

If we could go back to this lowest conceivable 
savage, what should we find ? Probably this: 
The anthropoid ape and the man-animal not quite 
out of sight of each other, but evolving on 
divergent roads from a common ancestor. If we 
could have stood near the diverging point, it would 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


27 


have been difficult to tell which had the potency 
of the dominant animal who rules the world 
to-day. 

Most people who try to reason about the matter, 
make the mistake of attempting to bridge the 
chasm at once from Shakspeare to a shrimp; and 
they say the difference is so enormous that Evolu¬ 
tion cannot be true. But the thoughtful student 
goes back step by step, age by age, until he stands 
side by side with a creature half upright and 
howling, with all the ferocious instincts of a 
brute, but yet man-like in form and function, his 
language a jumble of incoherent noises, his moral 
sense yet undeveloped, killing and eating all he 
could overpower. From this field of vision, we 
can see little difference between our potential man 
and his fellows of the forest. 

Some will ask, and do ask : “ At just what point 
and under what circumstances, did the direct line 
of man begin ?” And, “If it occurred once, why 
may it not occur again in the myriads of life- 
forms continually appearing upon the earth?” 
To the first query the answer must be, there is no 
such point. Evolution is but a shading and a 
becoming. But there were certainly circumstances 



28 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


which led to the line of man, and these are not 
hard to imagine with the factors of evolution in 
view, and highly favoring conditions superadded. 

Let it be remembered that a rugged environ¬ 
ment necessitating marked changes through the 
use or disuse of organs, together with the ever- 
continuing struggle for existence, perpetuating 
the strongest and best under the law of heredity, 
are the great forces in Morphological develop¬ 
ment. 

Once more, let us go back to the common 
ancestors of Man and the Anthropoid, and watch 
these primitive children as they start out together, 
some in one direction, some in another, their 
dispersion extending over broad territories during 
thousands of years, until at last they find them¬ 
selves in utterly dissimilar environments ; the one 
condition unfavorable, the other highly favorable 
to progressive development. Let us suppose the 
favored ones found themselves in the midst of 
circumstances not requiring tree-climbing, either 
for food or for safety. Naturally, they would 
begin to use their fore-paws for food-gathering, 
and for throwing missiles at enemies. This habit 
would gradually throw the weight of the body 




PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


29 


more and more on the back-feet, leaving the arms 
and upper part of the body free for the various 
actions required. In time, adaptive changes 
would occur in the direction of an upright and 
flexible spine, and greater utility in the use of the 
arms. These changes, slight from generation to 
generation, in the aggregate would give us the 
hand of man, “ which supplies all instruments, 
and gives him universal dominion.” As Darwin 
remarks, “It accords with the principle of the 
division of physiological labor, which prevails 
throughout the animal kingdom, that, as the 
hands become perfected for prehension, the feet 
should have become perfected for support and 
locomotion.” As these early man-animals went 
in herds and could utter cries, it is probable they 
soon learned to warn one another of the approach 
of danger, and also to express to one another their 
feelings and desires, which was doubtless the 
beginning of human speech. 

There are those who, in the pride of intellect 
and reason, reject with contempt such a lowly 
origin. They prefer descent from disgraced 
perfection, rather than a steady ascent through 
all the lower forms. They accept the belief that 



so 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


their bodies were made out of hand, from a lump 
of local dust, and that they are to this, hour under¬ 
going a penalty of pain and labor for a sin 
committed by a very distant relative, rather than 
believe in ascending excellence from the very first. 
In short, they would rather be fallen angels than 
risen men. 

On this point Mr. Darwin speaks as follows: 
“ Unless we wilfully close our eyes, we may with 
our present knowledge, approximately recognize 
our parentage; nor need we be ashamed of it. 
The most humble organism is something higher 
than the inorganic dust under our feet; and no 
one with an unbiased mind can study any living 
creature, however humble, without being struck 
with enthusiasm at its marvelous structure and 
properties.” Finally it may be said that man is a 
product of all the ages, a summary of all evolu¬ 
tionary efforts, an epitome of all preceding life; 
he is literally “made up of a little of every 
creature’s best,”—the crown and glory of cosmic 
energy. 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


31 


VI. 

PROOFS FROM EMBRYOLOGY. 

Perhaps the most striking evidence of the 
truth of Evolution, is found in the study of 
Embryology, which is the science of the embryonic 
cell. Three great stages of growth may here be 
noted, the cell, the individual, and the tribe. 
That all organic life has been evolved from 
primordial germ-cells during countless ages, is 
now the firm position of Science. Even the 
method and laws of growth have been clearly 
outlined. The microscopic germ-cell, when first 
stirred by the energy of life, subdivides, producing 
two primary germ-layers,—by fission again devel¬ 
oping four secondary germ-layers, and so on. 
These new cells do not entirely separate, but 
remain in contact. From the continual aggrega¬ 
tion of cell-forms, all the organs and parts of the 
body are developed. When an egg is formed by a 
multiplicity of cells, it separates into three distinct 
layers, called the ecto-blast, the endo-blast, and 
the meso-blast, from which are developed by differ¬ 
entiation the three great life-centres, namely, the 



32 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


nervous system, the nutritive system, and the 
blood system ; and from these follow the multitud¬ 
inous branchings to the highest stage of differen¬ 
tiation in the ontogenic series. Tracing any one 
of these groups, as the nervous system, we find 
it differentiates once more, forming the cerebro¬ 
spinal and ganglionic systems, each having differ¬ 
ent functions. The cerebro-spinal again differen¬ 
tiates into two systems, the voluntary and reflex,— 
these still again branching out into sensory and 
motor centres and fibres. The sensory-fibres 
branch out into the five senses with their separate 
functions. Take any one of the senses, as touch, 
and we observe that the nerve-fibres are not all 
alike. Some are sensitive to heat and cold; others 
to pressure. The nutritive and blood systems 
have, likewise, their special lines of differentiation, 
culminating in all the different organs, parts and 
functions of the animal body. And this is the 
process of every life and every birth. 

One of the most startling as well as one of the 
strongest proofs of evolution, is found in the fact 
that in Embryonic growth, each individual passes 
through all the successive stages which have 
preceded in the line of its tribal history. In other 
words, philogeny is repeated in ontogeny; the race 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


33 


in the individual. At a certain point, the embryo 
ceases to personate its ancestors, and commences 
to take on the form peculiar to its own kind. 
Professor Haeckel, in his “ Evolution of Man,” 
has given a series of plates showing the develop¬ 
ment of the embryos of the fish, salamander, 
tortoise, chick, hog, calf, rabbit, and man. At 
certain stages in their pre-natal development, 
there is an exact resemblance of form among them 
all, each becoming specialized as it approaches the 
time of birth. At one period of its growth the 
human embryo has the long, free, swinging tail of 
the races below it. 

Whither does all this array of facts lead ? 
What explanation can the creationist give? If 
man was fashioned at once, why drag him to 
nativity through all the forms of the brute- 
creation ? Why masquerade him in the guise of 
the dumb, ferocious, and soul-less brutes ? There 
is no reasonable explanation of these facts outside 
of the theory of development. There is no escape 
from the conclusion that man, and all mammals, 
have a common origin and a similar philogenic 
history. How strange and stirring is the thought. 
The changes of ages are compressed into the brief 
span of embryonic life ! 



34 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


VII. 

PROOFS FROM METAMORPHOSIS. 

Metamorphosis is closely allied to embryolog- 
ical development. In the latter the changes are 
all pre-natal; in the former, they continue after 
birth,—the transformations taking place before 
our very eyes. All are familiar with the common 
examples. The frog begins life as a fish; limbs 
grow, and lungs displace gills, as he passes on to 
the condition of a tail-less croaker. Butterflies, 
bees and beetles start out as grubs, and undergo 
what wondrous transformations ! The star-fish is 
first a swimming worm; the crab is born a tail¬ 
like shrimp. 

Metamorphosis is simply a term to describe the 
transformations which take place under our own 
eyes, but the pre-natal development is equally 
metamorphic. All living creatures pass through 
all the stages common to the race below them, 
finally branching off: to their own special class. 
This is the most mysterious and deeply-seated 
principle of life-growth. The stepping-stones of 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


35 


upward life are the vanishing forms of all the 
past. Each new stage is a birth from the preced¬ 
ing. All is metamorphosis from first to last. 
What can all this mean? In vain we ask the 
advocates of the Creation theory to explain. Like 
Sir John Falstaff, they will give no reasons on 
compulsion. We find in Metamorphosis the 
strongest support to the great law of Evolution, 
modification and adaptation operating everywhere 
on the children of life. 



36 


PHOOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


VIII. 

PROOFS FROM RUDIMENTARY ORGANS. 

The proofs of the Evolution theory from the 
existence of Rudimentary Organs are as interest¬ 
ing as convincing. Nature has strewn the life- 
path with dwarfed and dying forms, which testify 
to her marvelous work in moulding mind and 
matter. She never quite hides her tracks, but 
leaves in bone and tissue, in rock and flower, 
memorials of her brooding care. Her earliest 
children were lowly born, and over their natal-bed 
arose the rhythmic murmur of the sea. Rocked 
on its billowed breast, these children grew and 
filled the early waters with their kind, from which 
developed all divergent forms. Throughout this 
upward struggle of elemental life, Heredity, like 
a miser hoarding his bags of gold, has kept brief 
remnants of family traits for ages, letting them 
go only as compelled by the iron grip of that 
“ fierce Spirit of the glass and scythe, Remorseless 
Time.” 

We will note a few of the Rudiments which 
inheritance has still preserved, and let them serve 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


\7 


as examples of the multitudinous whole. It is 
well known that the baleen whale has no teeth, 
and no use for any; yet its embryo has a full set, 
which disappear before birth by absorption. The 
plain inference is that the whale has not always 
been a water-animal; that his ancestors had teeth 
and legs, and roamed through forest, swamp and 
marsh. In some whales, also, pelvic bones are 
found, and yet they have no hind legs. Such 
bones are mere rudiments of the former attach¬ 
ment of legs. Again, rudimentary hairs are found 
in the skin, being but fragments of the hairy coat 
their ancestors once wore, before they paddled 
their own canoes on the briny deep. The breathing- 
organs of the whale are modeled for air-breathing, 
not for water-breathing It would thus appear 
that our great oil-producer came first from the 
water, then acquired the structure of a quadruped, 
and finally went back again to his native deep. 
Why did he go back ? Will our theological friends 
say, “It was to swallow Jonah” ? 

The Python, also, has rudiments of legs; and 
the embryo of the calf has teeth which are 
absorbed before birth. The splint-bones of a 
horse’s foot, the turtle’s flipper, the dew-claw of 
dogs, the tails of birds, and the gill-arches of 



38 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


reptiles, are all useless rudiments. The crabs and 
fish in the Mammoth Cave have lost their eyes by 
disuse, but the sockets remain as rudimentary 
remnants. But more significant than all these, 
are the proofs furnished by the highest animal — 
Man. In all parts of his bodily structure are found 
the strongest evidences of his animal origin. He 
has dormant scalp and skin muscles, which were of 
great service to his ancestors, but of no use to 
him. Many persons are found who still possess 
the faculty of moving the scalp and ears in a 
remarkable degree, owing, no doubt, to the fact 
that their ancestors have continued the habit. 
Man has a remnant of a third eye-lid, now 
possessed only by some birds and beasts, in the 
crescent-shaped fold next to the nose. The nipples 
and mammary glands of males are wholly useless 
and suggest the differentiation of the two sexes 
from a common parent form. The sparse covering 
of hair on the human body is a lingering reminder 
of a time when clothes were at a discount. Even 
now we see some hairy specimens of humanity 
exhibited as curiosities, which doubtless represent 
a reversion to ancestral conditions. The thyroid 
gland in man is a rudimentary and wholly useless 
organ, which sometimes becomes the seat of 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


39 


certain forms of disease. In man as in some of 
the lower animals, a sort of pouch about two 
inches long, which is not only useless, but is a 
constant source of danger, is attached to the 
caecum of the large intestine. 

Another proof of man’s descent from an ape¬ 
like ancestor, is the fact that the human embryo, 
in common with such animals, has at one period 
of its growth, a free projecting tail, which shortens 
up before birth, leaving, however, several well- 
defined vertebrae at the end of the spine. These 
are wholly useless and are, moreover, subject to 
injury. 

The vascular system in man is also far from 
perfect, as we still retain, in part, such valvular 
arrangements as are best suited to the quadruped; 
and to the lack of a better arrangement many of 
life’s ills are due. Many of the visceral attach¬ 
ments in men, and especially in women, are also 
adapted to a creature which walks on “all fours,” 
but are very imperfect in their adaption to an 
upright posture of the body. If man was created 
out and out, such workmanship implies a woeful 
want of wisdom or constructive skill on the part 
of his maker. These facts, however, are readily 
explained on the theory of Evolution. 



40 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


IX. 

PROOFS FROM GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 

The doctrine of Derivation is much strength¬ 
ened by the study of the distribution of animals 
over the globe. We find the dispersion just such 
as we should expect to see if the theory of evolu¬ 
tion were true. If created suddenly, we ought to 
find them after their kind, indiscriminately inhab¬ 
iting islands and continents. But, instead, we 
find that the greater the isolation of the island, 
the fewer animals; and those found are more 
specialized in type. On the other hand, where 
opportunities for migration have been favorable, 
we observe the greatest variety of life. 

Again, if specific centers of creation were the 
method, each species would be best fitted for its 
own environment, and could not exist in any other. 
But the facts show that both animals and plants 
will flourish far away from their native homes, 
under totally different physical conditions; in 
many cases with decided advantage from the 
change. 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION . 


41 


There are many factors which give rise to 
diversity of organism as influenced by geographi¬ 
cal location, such as temperature, the effect of 
mountain barriers, and glacial action which in¬ 
duced migration. This subject is so broad and 
deep that we have only time to mention the 
remarkable fact concerning the fauna and flora 
of Australia. Its entire range of animal and 
plant-life, with trifling exceptions, is found no¬ 
where else on the globe. Among the great land- 
areas of the earth, it presents a striking case of 
retarded evolution, shown alike in species, genera, 
families and orders. It is a country of synthetic 
types. We still have there the egg-laying 
mammals, and the pouched marsupials, of which 
there are many species; but of true mammals, 
there are none. Australia and a few other oceanic 
islands—notably the Galapagos and Madagascar 
— seem to be but rudimentary parts of the great 
body of the globe. Here the tide of Evolution has 
been checked. Even the natives are among the 
lowest in the scale of human beings. 

What is the significance of all these facts? 
Why should Australia be some ages behind its 
rivals of like climate and soil? It is still in the 



42 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


Mesozoic age. The answer is inevitable. This 
great island, though doubtless once joined to Asia, 
lies in complete isolation, thus shutting out the 
migration of fierce animals; and those now there 
have changed but little from earlier types. The 
reason for this lagging development is the com¬ 
parative absence of that fierce struggle for exist¬ 
ence, which elsewhere prevails. No lion is there 
to frighten and destroy the kangaroo; no howling 
wolves to chase the monotrema. Australia is 
monkey-less and ape-less, although these animals 
abound elsewhere in like climates. Wherever the 
battle for life has been strongest, there we find 
the greatest progress and variety of development. 
The dwellers of mid-ocean islands have an easy, 
lazy time of it. “Far from the madding crowd’s 
ignoble strife, they kept the noiseless tenor of 
their way.” 

As Mr. Wallace remarks: “We find the con¬ 
tinental islands inhabited by animal life more or 
less similar to that of the mainland, according to 
time and distance of the separation.” All these 
facts are in perfect harmony with the theory of 
Evolution, and utterly at variance with any other 
hypothesis whatsoever. From the first dawning 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


43 


of life to the present moment, varieties of animal- 
forms and organs have developed most rapidly 
under the spurring whip of the fiercest warfare — 
a warfare not only of life against life, but of 
Nature against all. Heat and cold, dryness and 
moisture, wind and tide, lightning and storm, 
flood and fire, mountain and chasm, pestilence and 
famine, mist and darkness, one and all have stood 
like frowning giants in the path of living forms. 
But in spite of all these barriers, in spite of inter¬ 
racial strife of beak and claw, of tooth and venom, 
the residuary column has pushed onward and 
upward, readjusting itself to ever-changing con¬ 
ditions. Indeed, this very opposition and antag¬ 
onism have been the potent factors in the ascent 
of animal life. Australia has not kept pace with 
the continents because the warfare there has been 
little more than a skirmish. The continents have 
advanced under the great law of might. The 
weak, the indolent, and the stupid, were swept 
from among the living; the strong, the resolute, 
and cunning, remained victors. Evolution, and 
Evolution only, explains the facts of Geographical 
Distribution. 



44 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


X. 

PROOFS FROM DISCOVERED LINKS. 

Where are your “Missing Links”? cried the 
critics of Evolution after their recovery from the 
first shock of Mr. Darwin’s “Origin of Species” 
in 1859, and again after the publication of his 
later work, “ The Descent of Man.” From theolog¬ 
ical quarters, after the laugh had subsided, came 
severe denunciation of the doctrine. It was said 
that the Evolution hypothesis was both childish 
and dangerous, and that Darwin himself was the 
Munchausen of his time. Even to-day, thirty 
years from the time of that remarkable publica¬ 
tion, the masses—those innocent of any learning 
on the subject, and those who study fortified to 
disbelieve—alike cry out in chorus, “Show us the 
4 Missing links.’ ” This outcry has narrowed itself 
down to the demand for man’s immediate ancestor. 
They want an ape who can build a fire, whistle, 
and sing the Doxology; though they might 
possibly throw off the fire and the whistle. 

Before opening the cabinet of “ Discovered 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


45 


links,” it may be well clearly to understand just 
what we should, and just what we should not, 
expect to find. First, as to those living links 
which we do not find, it may be affirmed that 
their very absence is proof of Evolution. Its 
vital principle forbids their presence. Natural 
Selection sends the weakest to the wall, and so 
the transitional forms do not live to be looked at. 
No one life, nor a thousand, is long enough to 
observe the changing forms. As Mr. Darwin 
remarks: “ They perish by the very process of 
the formation of the new species.” A hundred 
thousand years or more have doubtless passed 
since man was first a man. His ancestral link 
was prior to himself, and could not have survived 
after man was fully evolved. It could not remain 
a link, but must push on to a fully developed man. 
If it were not so, Evolution would be but a 
childish dream. 

But the graded forms from brute to man, have 
all been on the earth. “Why,” you ask, “do we 
not find their remains now?” For this reason: 
Only now and then one was drowned ; for it must 
be remembered that ocean travel was limited in 
those days, and yachting parties were somewhat 



46 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


exceptional. It is doubtful whether the “ Missing 
Link” was either a sailor or a swimmer. Now, it 
is obvious that only those links meeting a watery 
fate would stand any chance of being preserved 
in the stratified rocks for subsequent discovery. 
Besides, a link before becoming immersed in 
hardening mud and sand, would do well if he 
escaped being eaten by link-eating monsters of the 
deep. And as for being preserved on land, what 
could one poor little heap of bones do as against 
the mutation of half a million years ? Therefore, 
in the very nature of time and things, we could 
not certainly expect to find a man-like link, living 
or dead. The soft parts of animals and plants, 
from their very nature, must disappear. The 
rocks themselves crumble and waste away, to be 
borne to the sea again with all their wealth, of 
fossil forms. The earth is broad and deep, the 
stones hard, and the searchers are few; and more¬ 
over, the work is hardly yet begun. A museum 
of “Missing Links” will be the attraction of the 
future. Nevertheless, with the door of Nature 
doubly barred, our sturdy scientists have broken 
through and disclosed some of the rich treasures 
beyond. 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


47 


First, we will notice some of the living links to 
be found, not on account of Evolution, but in 
spite of it. These are cases mainly of retarded 
or arrested development, which will doubtless 
culminate at last in true types, the links finally 
disappearing. The most interesting group of 
synthetic types are the Amphibians — interesting 
because it explains how we got out of the water, 
and into the woods. The frog, whose transforma¬ 
tions have already been referred to, is the most 
familiar example of this group. The shores of 
the early seas were doubtless the scenes of many 
equally remarkable transformations. The creatures, 
ocean born, were brave and hardy fellows, and 
bent on becoming land-lubbers at any cost. All 
the Amphibians must be regarded as links between 
the true water animals and land animals. Their 
swim-bladders were made into lungs, their fins 
into legs, their scales into hair and feathers. 

The living link between the egg-layers and the 
milk-givers is the class of Marsupials, of which 
the Kangaroo is a familiar example, which bring 
forth their young in an imperfect state, the devel¬ 
opment being completed in a pouch in front. In 
fact, the entire fauna of Australia may be regarded 



48 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


as generalized types. Prof. Owen has described 
two curious creatures discovered there,— the 
echidna and ornithorhyncus,— still more primitive 
than the kangaroo. They are pre-marsupials. 
They are both egg-layers, as no other hairy quad¬ 
ruped is. Their eggs are placed, that of the 
echidna in a pouch, as the marsupials carry their 
immature young, and that of the ornithorhyncus 
in a nest, and there hatched. Like no typ¬ 
ical egg-layer, they suckle their young. The 
ornithorhyncus, which has a bill like a duck, has 
bones resembling those of birds, reptiles and seals. 
What can all this mean if not descent with mod¬ 
ification ? Professor Huxley declares : “ On the 
evidence of Palaeontology, the evolution of many 
existing forms of animal life from their pred¬ 
ecessors is no longer an hypothesis but an histori¬ 
cal fact/’ 

The links between the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms are abundant. The Rhizopod is a fine 
example. It has sensation, and seemingly purpose, 
though non-cellular and inorganic. The polyp, 
has no arterial or circulatory system. It consists 
of simple layers of cells, and is propagated by 
buds. Here is a being which eats and grows 
like an animal and yet is propagated like a vegeta- 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


49 


ble. The sponge is an egg-layer. Its eggs bud 
or hatch and grow to adult life. These cases 
among the Protista, which are neither strictly 
animal or vegetable, suggest the beginning of 
differentiation from a common protoplasmic cell. 

Turning to the fossil world, we find, as we 
should expect, innumerable examples of connect¬ 
ing forms. In the later deposits, we find remains 
of toothed birds, having many reptilian character¬ 
istics. Reptiles were then not a fixed type, but 
shaded gradually from fish to bird. The Archae¬ 
opteryx, a fossil rarely found, was a true link 
between the birds and reptiles. 

Certainly, no two kinds of living things are 
more unlike than birds and reptiles, or more 
antagonistic in their natures, mutually preying on 
each other; and yet their relationship is clearly 
established. Psychologically, they have nothing 
in common but hate; and yet the bird is only a 
feathered reptile. Within three years, there was 
found, in the slate deposits of Bavaria, a specimen 
of a reptilian-bird—now preserved in the British 
Museum — which has a long, lizard-like tail of 
twenty joints. Says Professor Vogt, “This is 
neither bird nor reptile, but a decided link between 
the two.” In the later chalk formations many 



50 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


fossils have been found by Professor Marsh, more 
bird-like in character, but still possessing teeth. 
The flying dragons afford another link between 
birds and reptiles. The front half was decidedly 
bird-like, but the hind legs and pelvis were strong¬ 
ly reptilian. 

The anaplotherium connects the swine with the 
cud-chewers; the zeuglodon connects whales with 
seals; and the palaeotherium connects hogs with 
the rhinoceros. These are all true links. 

A remarkable example of a perfect succession 
of links is found in the fossil shells of the Tertiary 
rocks of Wurtemburg, which are literally packed 
with fossil forms. These shells show a complete 
grading to correspond with the order of the rock- 
deposits. Here is evolutionary perfection without 
a break. The life once within these shells, in its 
tribal history presents no “ missing links.” 

To sum up, we find the sponge family—the 
animal-vegetable—near the original protoplasm. 
The lancelet—the first of the back-bone tribe, 
with only a line of cartilage in place of spinal 
vertebrae — connects fishes and mollusks; the am¬ 
phibians connect fishes and mammals; the Archae¬ 
opteryx connects birds and reptiles; the kangaroo 



PBOOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


51 


connects egg-layers and milk-givers ; but between 
man and the ape there is no living link. Nor can 
there be if Evolution is true; yet it is not less 
certain that he has been evolved from a lower 
animal form than that these other steps in biolog¬ 
ical development have taken place. 

Professor Wilson, of Edinburgh, says : “ There 
can be no Evolution for one group, and special 
creation for another. There can be no Evolution 
for the lower races, and creation for the higher 
forms of animal life, or for man himself. Uni¬ 
formity and sequence exist wholly, or not at all.” 
Professor Huxley also declares, “If one series of 
species has come into existence by the operation 
of natural causes, it seems folly to deny that all 
may have arisen in the same way.” 

It has been truly said, “Of special creation the 
rocks tell no tale.” Nor do the present living 
forms which roam beneath “this brave o’erhanging 
firmament,” while all the fossil dead, and all 
living creatures, give out some hint or indication 
of the things they were, and of the evolutionary 
process through which they have reached their 
present estate. 



52 


PBOOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


XI. 

PROOFS FROM ARTIFICIAL BREEDING. 

It is well known that nearly all domestic 
animals, food-plants, fruits, and flowers have been 
greatly improved by man’s endeavor to produce 
higher and better forms. His success has been 
phenomenal in modifying size, form, color, speed, 
strength, and beauty. If such marvelous results 
may be achieved in one individual’s lifetime by 
accelerating the Law of Selection, what wonders 
might we not expect Nature to perform in the 
ages gone by ? 

The wild species have been modified by Natural 
Selection during countless ages. In a degree man 
can repeat and augment this developmental process 
in his own brief life; nay, he can almost witness 
an entire change of species. Individual inheritance 
is from all the preceding race, but strongest from 
the immediate parent. Heredity is cumulative, 
and tends toward fixity and stability, until finally 
the opposite tendency to reversion is overcome. 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


53 


Professor LeConte says : “ During the brief history 
of man, races of the different domestic animals 
and plants have been found, differing so greatly 
from each other that if discovered in a wild state 
they would certainly be called different species, 
and in some cases genera. If art accomplishes 
this result by Artificial Selection, why not Nature 
by Natural Selection ?” 

The objectors say, “We cannot admit this 
evidence, for if your improved breeds are turned 
out again, they would revert to original types.” 
The Evolutionist replies: Heredity is a plant of 
slow growth. It increases slowly and holds 
firmly; time is the measure of its strength. If 
pushed rapidly, it will hold lightly. This is a 
universal principle; what is longest in coming to 
maturity is strongest. He answers likewise: 
Domestic animals, if sent back to the wild state, 
enter a new environment and must begin anew a 
struggle for existence in competition with their fel¬ 
lows of the woods. They are out of harmony with 
their former artificial conditions, and a readjust¬ 
ment must take place. Tame and wild animals 
are put on common ground. They are forced into 
competition, and must needs fight or die. The 



54 


PBOOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


very principle of Evolution demands reversion in 
such cases. 

There are, however, two interesting questions, 
not yet fully answered; although they do not 
affect at all the truth or probability of the theory 
of Descent. First, what is the cause of variation ? 
And, secondly, What is the cause of the first step 
in usefulness f Why should there be a tendency to 
vary?* Use can improve an organ, but how can 
it start one ? And how does it start itself ? The 
answer to these questions may perhaps be found 
in subsequent investigations of the psychological 
phases of the life-problem. 

* Since the delivery of this Essay, a writer in the “Popular 
Science Monthly” for April, 1889, maintains with much force that 
the Tendency to Vary is due largely to Psycho-Physiological 
influences. 




PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


55 


XII. 

PROOFS FROM REVERSION. 

One of the most curious facts of Evolution is 
the tendency to revert to ancestral forms. This 
at first seems to weaken the theory of Descent, 
but in reality it gives it great support. It is all a 
question of environment. If that remains the 
same, there will be little change in life-forms. 
For this reason the King-Crab and the Nautilus of 
to-day are quite similar to their fossil parents. If 
former life-conditions are restored, what is more 
natural than retrogression? 

But even here, paradoxical as it may seem, 
there is really progress, for Evolution always 
insists on the readjustment of organs to environ¬ 
ment. The changes are best for the animal 
under the circumstances, and therefore truly 
an advance for him. This tendency to reversion 
is shown by the stripes on some horses and 
mu l es — a survival of the stripes on the wild 
horse, such as we see on the zebra; also, by the 



56 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


animal teeth, peculiar muscles and hairy covering 
possessed by some men and women. The barnacle, 
once a free-swimmer, is now a lazy ride-stealer, a 
free-booter and pirate of the sea, threatening to 
scuttle the ship. Some island insects and many 
varieties of birds have lost the power to fly by 
long disuse of their wings, safety and food not 
requiring flight. The whale has lost his ability to 
walk on dry land. In general, when any organ 
has become useless, it tends to retrogression, and 
finally becomes rudimentary. Nature abhors the 
useless. But this reversion is always slow, as 
Heredity is ever jealous of her store. 

Reversions are but eddies in the great stream of 
Evolution, and like eddies show the direction of 
the current. It is as though Nature had sent a 
courier back a little way to guide us more clearly 
on in our investigations. This feature of Evolu¬ 
tion, theology should accept since it recognizes the 
principle of “ back-sliding.” The mites and ticks 
have doubtlessly fallen from spiders and scorpions. 
The insect, Stylops, with aborted wings, has sunk 
from a free-flyer to the ignoble life of a parasite. 

In closing this branch of the subject I will 
quote Professor Wilson: “While progressive Evo- 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


57 


lution develops the great tree of life, extends each 
branch, clothes it with verdure, and expands each 
blossom, it is degeneration which lops off the 
worn and aged stems, prunes the weakly foliage, 
trims the budding growths, and so directs and 
moulds the outlines of the organic whole.” 




58 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


XIII. 

PROOFS FROM MIMICRY. 

<3 

Mimicry, or the imitative faculty of some 
plants and animals, gives us most interesting 
testimony for Evolution. Some insects and birds, 
through the law of Natural Selection, in config¬ 
uration and color are like the natural objects over 
which they roam, thus securing a degree of pro¬ 
tection from their natural enemies. The brooding 
bobolink harmonizes with its nest, while its un¬ 
fettered mate in gay attire soars happily around. 
But the valiant crow needs no protection, and so 
is “ black as crows can be.” Those female birds 
and insects which serve as prey for their enemies 
are inconspicuous in color, while their mates are 
dressed in fine raiment. That curious little insect, 
the walking-stick, looks precisely like a brown 
twig broken from a tree; others resemble the 
leaves of plants which grow in their neighborhood. 
Some animals feign or mimic death to escape such 
foes as devour only what they kill. Others, again. 



PHOOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


59 


resemble a more ferocious animal, and thus secure 
immunity from attack. 

Not all creatures, however, are thus protected, 
especially of the domestic class. But why should 
safety by imitation be accorded to some and not 
to all animals, if all things were created out of 
hand ? Some are left defenseless; others are aided 
in concealment. Every animal has his foe, and 
must battle for his life. This, from the point of 
view of special creation, does not look like eternal 
and even-handed justice. It looks, rather, like a 
logical result of the operation of Mr. Darwin’s 
great principles of Natural and Sexual Selection. 



60 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


XIV. 

SPONTANEOUS GENERATION. 

There are two classes of scientific travelers, 
who go back on the Evolution road happily 
together, until they reach the point of Spontane¬ 
ous Generation, and there they part company with 
none too friendly voice. The one with theological 
views insists that the germ-cells were created, just 
as he once used to think Adam was created. The 
other maintains that this speck of protoplasm was 
formed by chemical and electrical action, and 
other natural means, operating under once favora¬ 
ble conditions on the primitive slime; and that 
from these primordial cells all succeeding life has 
sprung. In other words, he believes that the life- 
principle is resident in matter itself, needing only 
vivifying conditions to make it active. Why our 
theological friend need diverge at all is not clear. 
If simply the power and wisdom of a Creator are 
in question, there should be no disagreement; for 
it is certainly a greater display of Creative skill 
to make an all-pervading law than to make out of 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


61 


hand a few germ-cells. It is greater to evolve a 
principle than make a simple thing. A thing 
wears out; a principle is eternal. 

It would seem that Evolution cannot fairly stop 
at this little atom of carbon compound. Is it 
afraid or powerless to take the mystic step 
between the living and the non-living ? Did Evo¬ 
lution operate all the way from “star-dust” down 
to this little speck and then cease to operate? 
Could it make worlds, suns, and systems, and yet 
prove inefficient at this vital point? Is it not 
grander to think we were made out of something 
than out of nothing ? If creation really was the 
method, why give us the Garden of Eden, with 
the Fall of Man thrown in, rather than the 
millions of years of struggling, warring life, in 
order to reach our manhood ? If we were created, 
then why was it necessary to start us so low ? 

But, say the critics, “ If life was evolved once 
out of inorganic conditions, why not again ?” 
Why not, indeed? Who knows what life is 
evolving in torrid climes under the deep-sea ooze ? 
But it may be that the conditions of life-birth 
have forever passed. No one has yet proved or 
disproved beyond the shadow of a doubt the 



62 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


method of the genesis of life on our globe. But 
there is no reason to suppose there has been a 
break in Evolution, and every reason for believing 
that it has formed one continuous line of succession 
from Nebula to Man. There is no element in 
plant or animal not found also outside of them. 
It is mimicry or imitation on a grand scale from 
first to last. The Moneron has bequeathed its 
albuminous carbon compound to all subsequent 
life; and we are what we eat and walk on. The 
formation of the crystal corresponds to inheritance 
and adaptation in organic evolution. It is all a 
question of degree. Professor Haeckel and many 
other eminent scientists hold this view. Professor 
Tyndall says, “ Matter has in it the promise and 
potency of all forms of life. ,> 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


63 


XV. 

A SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE. 

In closing we will briefly present a summary 
of evidence. 

Astronomy declares the unity and universality 
of the laws of gravitation and evolution. The 
Nebular Hypothesis explains how by the operation 
of these laws “the infinite meadows of heaven” 
are filled with orbs “unutterably bright.” 

Geology describes the Evolution of the Earth 
from a formless void to wrinkled age. Entombed 
within the leaves of rock are found in nice 
gradation all forms of upward-tending life, no 
sharp lines between the types, but insensible 
shading from first to last. As a writer happily 
puts it: “ It is as if Nature wrote her own auto¬ 
biography, using for an alphabet the hieroglyphics 
of life.” 

Embryology testifies as to the method of animal 
evolution. It is a brief summary of the story of 
the race in the life of the individual, a rehearsing 



64 


PBOOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


of the sublime drama of all time. Is this all a 
meaningless phenomenon, a senseless panorama? 
Is this “epitome and brief chronicle” of the ages 
only a whimsical incantation of some occult 
power? Is it not rather, on the contrary, a 
demonstration of Nature’s method of Evolu¬ 
tion ? 

Metamorphosis makes this assurance doubly 
sure; for we can see the evolving forms before 
our very eyes. Nature is an unsolvable riddle 
only to the sightless and thoughtless. 

Rudimentary organs are among the strongest 
proofs of descent, and are present throughout the 
vegetable and animal kingdoms. To the biologist, 
man is a curiosity shop, the whale a traveling 
museum. Was Man created in the image of his 
Maker? Why, he isn’t half made yet. The 
chips of the shop are still on him. He needs yet 
the emery-stone of time. But he is in the hands 
of a tireless Master, deft fashioner of form and 
function—Evolution. 

Artificial Breeding is proof of the method of 
Nature’s workings. Man can accelerate the 
process of Nature. He has given us better stock 
and better food-stuffs. Darwin in twenty years 



PROOFS . OF EVOLUTION. 


65 


accomplished what it would have taken Natural 
Selection thousands of years to do. By following 
the method of Nature man has become the 
originator of higher forms — a conscious factor 
of Evolution. 

Reversion says that the two kingdoms of 
life are full of antagonisms—that ebb and flow 
are in the heart of all things—that strong and 
stubborn Heredity has a master—environment. 
Heredity never originates. It merely holds and 
perpetuates. If the surroundings are more favor¬ 
able for return to the parent form than to the 
maintenance of the derived form, the organism 
will go back to the former. Life-forms may go 
onward or backward according to the demands of 
adaptation. But the final result is progress—it 
is Evolution. 

Geographical Distribution furnishes evidence of 
the strongest kind for the case of Evolution. It 
explains the wide diversity of animals and plants 
on the earth, that they have sprung from common 
sources, and have become scattered by migration 
and other causes. The wider the separation of 
islands the greater the variation of organic types 
from their kindred on the mainland. These facts 



66 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


point away from the creation theory, and directly 
to Evolution. 

Homology , or the Science of Likenesses, throws 
a flood of light on the question of development. 
It proves, by the exhibition of the successive 
steps, how the whole was accomplished. Mr. 
Spencer says: “ What now can be the meaning of 
this community of structure among these thou¬ 
sands of species ? To say it is the work of design, 
to say that the Creator followed the pattern 
throughout, merely for the purpose of maintaining 
it, is to assign a motive which if avowed by a 
human being we would call whimsical.” The 
only rational explanation of natural homologies 
is Evolution. 

Mimicry , or Imitation , adds a strong link to 
the chain of evidence in support of Evolution. 
When strength or courage is wanting, cunning 
supplies its place. This imitative tendency 
extends over a wide range of life-forms, and even 
enters the circle of human society. Few men or 
women dare be original and independent, fearing 
to meet the shafts of malice and detraction. To 
imitate others is the safest way. Therefore all 
reforms, high thoughts, and new ideas, find slow 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


67 


acceptance; but to these alone we look for 
progress. 

The new theology, based upon Evolution, has to 
combat the selfish propensity of man to seek for 
his own ease and resist progress and change. It 
is easier to dream and be common than to think 
and be exceptional. It is all a question of the 
gray matter of the brain,— of Evolution. 



68 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


XVI. 

LANGUAGE AND THE MORAL SENSE. 

The great difference between man and the lower 
animal is the possession by the former of Language 
and the Moral Sense. This difference as at present 
manifested is indeed almost infinite. But let us 
go back on the tide of time—back even thousands 
of years before the cave-men, when speech was but 
a chatter and conscience was as yet undeveloped; 
then the difference would be a vanishing quantity. 

The higher animals, in common with man, 
manifest joy, sorrow, love, hate, fear, courage, 
fidelity, gratitude, jealousy, memory and reason, 
and these qualities are clearly shown in their 
actions. One dog will watch another at his bone 
without interfering with the right of prior posses¬ 
sion ; but once let it be abandoned, and the watch¬ 
er’s paw upon it, let him take it who dares ! This 
is a recognition of the principle of ownership and 
property-right, and therefore contains a glimmer of 
conscience. With the development of the larynx 
and the brain in man came speech and conscience, 
and all the heights of mind. 



PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


69 


XVII. 

CONCLUSION. 

The final question which demands our attention 
is, How does man stand to-day, affected by Evolu¬ 
tion ? By it we are chained to all the past; we 
are pledged to all the future. We are a part of 
Universal Life, of life supreme, of life eternal. 
We have always been coming; we will always be 
going. Our influence for good or ill will be ever¬ 
lasting. The difference between the atom and the 
All is one of degree, not of kind. We are kindred 
at once to the highest and to the lowest. 

The crown and jewel, the bloom and fruit of 
Evolution is moral grandeur — is conscience. Like 
mind, motive, reason, will and language, it was 
lowly born, and has risen from the manger of con¬ 
sciousness. It is the collected inheritance of the 
best tendencies of life. 

Evolution insists on the importance of this 
world, and yet from Love that stands waiting to 
clasp its idols in a future life, it takes no hope. 

Evolution is sweeping from the world a crude 
and cruel theology, giving forth a promise of 



70 


PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 


“ sweetness and light,”—of better social conditions 
and individual progress. The old theology- 
worships the Unknown, and prays to change the 
changeless. It believes at least in “ Theological 
selection,” insuring the survival of the “ elect,” 
while the tropic storm of pain sweeps over all 
the rest. Evolution has entered every pulpit, and 
softened every harsh voice, and is hopeful of the 
time when to creedless moral beauty, man will 
concede a crown. 

Man entered the world, as Evolution assures us, 
not in disobedience, but in unison with the two 
grandest forces in breathing Nature. He began life 
with innocence, and under the inspiration of Hunger 
and Love. The one led to the divinity of Labor; 
the other to the heights of Happiness. Theology 
declares that he began the world turned out from 
Paradise; Hunger without a crust and Love with¬ 
out a home. The one idea was upward; the other 
downward. Which is better ? 

In this presentation of the case of Evolution, I 
am aware that only the borders of the broad field 
have been touched. The fulness of ripe-eared 
Truth lies yet in store. If I have made you 
hungry, it is well. 





































































































